Actor Michael Douglas at the Monaco racetrack in Monaco, Saturday, May 25, 2013.

Actor Michael Douglas at the Monaco racetrack in Monaco, Saturday, May 25, 2013.

Photo: Luca Bruno, AP Photo/Luca Bruno

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Actor Michael Douglas at the screening of Behind the Candelabra at the 66th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, May 21, 2013.

Actor Michael Douglas at the screening of Behind the Candelabra at the 66th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, May 21, 2013.

Photo: David Azia, AP Photo/David Azia

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Michael Douglas' cancer linked to oral sex

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Actor Michael Douglas recently raised eyebrows in an interview that linked his bout with throat cancer to oral sex. And while some associated with the actor dispute whether that's what he actually said, many local doctors confirm that there's a link between certain oral cancers and sexual contact.

Specifically, there's a link between cancer and a sexually transmitted disease called human papillomavirus.

More Information

HPV and oral sexStatistics on human papillomavirus from the Centers for Disease Control and PreventionAbout 33,300 HPV-associated cancers occur each yearOf those 21,300 cancers occur in women and 12,100 occur in menCervical cancer is the most common HPV-associated cancer among women. Oropharyngeal cancers (cancers at the back of the throat) are the most common among men.HPV is also thought to be responsible for 90 percent of anal cancers, 65 percent of vaginal cancers, 50 percent of vulvar cancers and 35 percent of penile cancers

Most people with HPV never develop symptoms or health problems. But in some, the virus can cause serious issues, including genital warts and a variety of cancers, including cancer in the back of the throat, also known as oropharyngeal cancers.

In an interview published in The Guardian newspaper in England, Douglas appeared to blame his own battle with throat cancer on oral sex.

When asked whether he thought his cancer resulted after "You overloaded your system with drugs, smoking and drink?" Douglas answered: "Without wanting to get too specific, this particular cancer is caused by HPV, which actually comes from cunnilingus."

A Douglas spokesman said the actor never said oral sex was the cause of his own cancer, just one of the many causes of the illness. Though Douglas' comments shocked some, at least one doctor said the link between HPV and oral cancer is well known.

"In the ear, nose and throat and head and neck fields, we're very much aware of it," said Dr. Biana Lanson, an ear, nose and throat doctor affiliated with Stamford Hospital. "But maybe the general population is not."

In 2007, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study showing those who had evidence of prior HPV infection were 32 times more likely to develop the oral cancer than those who didn't. This was much higher than the risk for smoking, which the study said tripled one's risk for the cancer. Those who drink, another common factor in oropharyngeal cancer, were only 2.5 times more likely to get the cancer.

Often, when someone is diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer, the tumor is tested for HPV, Lanson said. "The good news is that HPV-positive cancers respond really well to radiation," she said.

Throat cancer isn't the only one linked to HPV. Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report showing that the STD was linked not just to 60 percent of oropharyngeal cancers, but to almost all cervical cancers, as well as 65 percent of vaginal cancers, 90 percent of anal cancers, 50 percent of vulvar cancers and 35 percent of penile cancers.

The CDC also estimated that about 33,300 HPV-associated cancers occur nationwide each year -- roughly two-thirds of them in women.